To save their crops, Norfolk County farmers splurge on irrigation and pray for rain

City dwellers wondering what effect the recent dry spell has had on area farms need look no further than their front yards.

A lot of people's lawns right now are dry, and that's very atypical of June and early July. Usually they're still green, and in August you get the brown," said Simcoe fruit and vegetable farmer Sarah Judd.

So it's an indication that we haven't had enough rain, which is definitely impacting the overall production."

Virtually every farm field in Norfolk County that still looks green and healthy has had some help.

The Judds regularly watered their strawberries to extend the pick-your-own season and ensure young plants needed for future harvests would survive the year.

The corn crop looks beautiful, but that's only because we're spending a fortune in diesel pumping water," said sweet corn farmer Charles Welsh.

If we didn't irrigate, they would be looking really rough."

The lack of moisture has thinned out a cherry harvest that is brief even at the best of times.

The sour cherry crop is light," said Simcoe fruit farmer Brett Schuyler, adding that his apple orchards so far look none the worse for wear.

But, he said, everything would benefit from some rain."

Mother Nature usually pitches in to keep the fields happily hydrated, but this spring's dry weather has put that onus on farmers, which may mean higher prices for consumers.

(Irrigation) adds more costs to food production because we need to spend money on fuelling the pumps to irrigate and we need to move irrigation pipe, which takes labour," Judd explained.

It may not happen this year, but Welsh said at some point the price of sweet corn will have to increase so farmers can recoup those added expenses.

The skies opened over the rain-starved fields earlier in the week, but farmers wish the downpour had lasted a while longer.

It was very welcome," Judd said of the brief rainfall. Unfortunately, we haven't got as much as we would like. We were hoping on that big rain."

It rained on Friday afternoon and there is rain in the forecast for early next week, but Welsh said his cornfields could use more than scattered showers.

That would make a big difference, if we get that natural rain," he said.

I think everybody's in the same boat, especially in Norfolk County. We need a lot of water on our sandy ground to keep the quality (of the crops) up, so everybody's irrigating. And that's really expensive right now with the cost of fuel."

Judd said her perennial crops like rhubarb and asparagus fared well, and she does not expect any shortfall among the field and greenhouse-grown crops that end up in the food boxes she sells to members of her community-supported agriculture program.

But cash crops like hay, soybeans and field corn - which are not typically irrigated since their already-small margins do not justify the extra expense - may have smaller yields.

It'll be interesting to see. There's definitely some crops that are stressed," Judd said.

Other things might still be fine, because we still have a lot of season ahead of us."

J.P. Antonacci's reporting on Haldimand and Norfolk is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. jpantonacci@thespec.com